Cable-hoist



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

W. L; GARRELS.

SABLE HOIST.

Patented Feb. 1, 1898.

nu: Nmws mins CO, Wommwo.. wAsHrNcTcN. o. c.

W. L. GARMSLS.V

l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

CABLE HOIST.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 1, 1898.

3J. .im m. EL

VllNrrnD STATES VILLIAM L. GARRELS, OF ST. IJOUIS, MISSOURI.

CABL-Holsr.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,178, dated February 1, 1898.

Application led March 9 1896.

To all whom, it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. GARRELs, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,.have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cable-Hoists, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cable-hoists, and has for its principal objects to provide carriers or hangers for the fall-rope and means for distributing said carriers automatically at suitable intervals along the main cable.

To this end my invention consists in a series of hangers or carriers supported freely on the main cable and means whereby said hangers are successively attached to or detached from the hauling-rope, so as to move therewith along the main cable.

My invention consists in the parts and in the combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, and especially in the arrangement by which the controlling devices are accommodated to all the varying positions of the cable and by which the cable is relieved of the Weight of the controlling devices.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device, showing the cable-tower in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a partial plan thereof on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2,1001;- ing to the left. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view, partially plan and partially sectional, showing the position of the parts of the carrier just before the completion of the return movement. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section, looking to the right, on the planes indicated by dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 4, the nut on the end of the axle 24 being shown, however, in fulllines; and Fig. 6 is ,an enlarged fragmental side elevation, sectional in part and with some of the parts broken away to more clearly show the retarding, the detaining, and the clamping devices of the hanger or carrier.

Near the top of the tower (indicated by dotted line in Fig. l) which supports the main cable 1 is fastened a hinged bracket 2, arranged to swing in a horizontal plane. The outer endof this bracket 2 is turned upwardly and is forked or bifurcated to allow room for the main cable and for the hauling-rope 3 and the fall-rope 4:. Upon this bracket 2 is Serial No. 582,452. (No model.)

fastened an outwardly-,extending skeleton frame 5, adapted to inclose said cable and ropes and whose top and bottom plates diverge downwardly to allow for the .varying rises and falls therewith, carrying with it the bumbers and the hauling and fall ropes and thereby keeping them in proper positions; relative to the hangers or carriers hereinafter described. These hangers or carriers 11 each consist of a grooved wheel or roller 12, adapted to roll along the cable and having a frame 13 suspended therefrom. In the lower portion of this frame 13, or preferably in a block pivotally suspended therefrom, is a sheave or pulley 14,'upon which the fall-rope rests. The frame 13 of each hanger or carrier 11 has an axle or lbar 24 mounted thereon below the main cable and extending in the same direction therewith. Upon this axle as a fulcrum is mounted a clamping device 15, adapted to grip the hauling-rope 3 and thereby cause the hanger or carrier to be drawn along the main cable by said hauling-rope. This clamping device 15 consists of-a pair of pivoted leversv or jaws 16 and a spring 17, which bears against said levers and tends normally to clamp the jaws upon the hauling-rope..

/Vhen the carriage attached to the haulingrope is close to the tower, allof the hangers 1l are assembled inside ofthe skeleton frame 5,said frame being provided with means which automatically disengage the several clamps 15 from the hauling-rope as they aresuccessively drawn back into said frame and'which automatically release said clamps andpermit them to grip said hauling-rope andbe drawn along the cable by it as it :moves in .the opposite direction. These means consist lof plates or vanes 18, pivoted near their outermost longitudinal edges in the top and bottom plates IOO of the skeleton frame 5 in position to be swung into or out of the path of the levers or jaws of the clamping devices of the several carriers. One vane might suffice for each carrier; but for obvious reasons it is preferable to have a pair of vanes for each carrier, one vane being located on each side thereof. Each of the vanes is provided with an eccentric stud 19, and these several studs lit, respectively, in the grooves of cams 20, fixed on a shaft 21, or, when the vanes are arranged in pairs, on two shafts located on top of the skeleton frame 5 on either side of the cable and suitably geared together, as shown in Fig. 3.

The several cams 20 each consist of a disk in Whose edge is a circumferential or nearly circumferential slot consisting of two parallel straight portions connected by an inclined portion. The ends of the slot are thus not in line. The operation of the vanes is eected only by the edges of the inclined portion of the slot bearing against the eccentric stud on the vane. While the stud is in the parallel portions the vane is motionless. The several cams are iixed upon the shaft so that the inclined portion of each successive cam, beginning with the outermost, is located at a predetermined angular distance behind that of the preceding cam. By this arrangementthe several vanes or pairs of vanes are operated successively-that is, cach vane or pair of vanes in regular succession, beginning with the outermost, is turned out of the path of the carriers and remains out of such path until a reversal of the motion of the cam-shaft returns said vanes successively and in reverse order into the path of the carriers.

As above stated, the vanes are adapted to be turned or rotated on their pivots 22 into the path of the levers of the clamping device, and in this position the surfaces of each pair of vanes constitute inclined planes or converging walls between which the levers of the clamping device are wedged against the pressure of the spring 17 as the carrier returns. When the upper ends of the levers are thus wedged or forced together, their jaws are separated, thereby releasing their grip on the hauling-rope; but when the vanes are turned apart the spring 17 automatically spreads said levers and clamps said jaws about the hauling-rope.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that each vane is turned out of the path of the clamping-levers by one motion of the cam-shaft and is turned back into such path by the reverse motion of the cam-shaft. Itis apparent that the several pairs of vanes must necessarily be turned back into the path of the carriers before the particular carrier with which each pair cooperates reaches them in its return movement. This result may be effected by making the inclined portion of the camslot slightly wider than the other portion. This construction also provides the necessary space to allow a lateral quick movement of the stud in the slot. Such lateral movement is effected by a spring brought into action by a trigger or detent which is released ata predetermined point in the incline. This snap or trigger action is a contrivance already in use.

Each of the carriers is provided with a wooden bumper 23, suitably located in its upper portion and another below, and also with suitable locking and retarding devices. For this latter purpose the axle 24, upon which the clamping-levers 16 are pivoted, is elongated and has two pairs of levers 25 pivoted thereon similar in size and shape to the clamping-levers 16 and likewise automatically spread apart by springs 26, but having no clampingjaws. As the carrier is being drawn along rapidly by the hauling-rope these springpressed levers 25 bear against the inclined vanes in advance of the clamping-levers, and as soon as the clamping-jaws begin to separate operate to retard or check the speed of the carrier. As soon as the first pair of levers 25 passes the pair of vanes their spring `separates them and prevents the carrier from recoiling or slipping back again; so likewise with the second pair of levers, which lock the carrier in proper position in the skeleton frame.

The wooden bumpers are so arranged that the returning carrier is stopped before the clamping device passes the pair of vanes corresponding thereto, lest after passing said vanes the jaws of the clamping device should again clamp the cable.

The shaft 21, (or shafts,) to which the cams are fixed, has a worm-wheel 27 thereon, which is driven' by a worm 28 on a shaft 29, which in turn has a sprocket-wheel 30, driven by a sprocket-chain 31, preferably operated by the shaft of the hauling-rope mechanism, so that the operation of the cams may bear a predetermined relation to the position of the carriage attached to said hauling-rope. For the sake of safety a friction-clutch 32, adapted to slip when the resistance becomes too great, is suitably located on the shaft 29. By the arrangement above described the carriage, by suitably proportioning the intermediate connecting devices, may be made to travel any desired distance, while the cam-shaft is turned through the small angular interval between the inclines of successive cams, and at each of these intervals, by the action of the inclined edge upon the vane, a carrier is released and clamped upon the hauling-rope and made to travel therewith along the main cable.

I do not wish to restrict myself to the specific means above described for controlling the operation of the vanes, as other means may be used for this purpose.

What I claim is- 1. A cable hoist comprising a tower, a bracket fixed thereto, a main cable, fall-rope carriers movable on said cable, each provided with a clamping device for gripping the hauling-rope, and stationary mechanism on said bracket for controlling the clamping devices IOO IIO

of the several fall-rope carriers successively, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A cable-hoist comprising a frame adapted to inelose the main cable, a series of upright vanes pivoted in said frame to turn about the tower, a bracket ixed thereto and sup` porting a frame adapted to inclose the main cable, a series of upright vanes pivoted in said frame ,to turn about upright aXes and p means for swinging said vanes successively,

of fall-rope carriers movable on said cable and provided with clamping devices adapted Vto grip the hauling-rope, said clamping devices being controlled by said vanos, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

v 4. In a cable-hoist, the combination with the tower, a bracket ixed thereto and supporting a frame adapted to vinclose the main cable, a series of upright vanes pivoted in said frame to turn about upright 'aires and means for swinging said vanes successively, of fall-rope carriers movablewn said, cable and provided with clamping devices to grip the hauling-rope and with retarding and retaining devices, all of said devices being adapted to cooperate with said vanes, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a cable-hoist, a fall-rope carrier movable along the main cable, said carrier having a pair of spring-actuated jaws for gripping the hauling-rope and spring-pressed levers for retarding and locking said carrier, said jaws and levers being adapted to coperate with independently-actuated controlling devices, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM L. GARRELS. `Vlitnesses:

JAMES AOARR, T. PERcY CARR. 

